


Commendable

by HopeCoppice



Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: French Revolution, Gen, Honestly it's just Crowley everyone else is barely in it, Rescue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-07-30 15:20:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20099353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopeCoppice/pseuds/HopeCoppice
Summary: Crowley can't actually sense when Aziraphale is in danger. But he has his ways.





	Commendable

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so mad that setting this in 1793 means I can't refer to Crowley knowing where Aziraphale is as Praydar.
> 
> Anyway, silly little thing, enjoy.

Crowley, despite what Aziraphale probably thinks, does not have some sort of supernatural sense for when his- ah- when _ the _ angel is in danger. He knows where he is, of course, in the same vague sort of way that Aziraphale probably knows where Crowley himself is - there’s a sort of occult/ethereal feeling that follows them around and it's easy enough to trace it back to its source, if one wants to find the other. It's proved very convenient in the past, when Crowley's been bored or needed a favour, but it’s never given him any indication of the situation Aziraphale might be in at the time. There’s no echo of Aziraphale’s heartbeat against his own, to warn him when the angel is in a state of heightened tension - and that would hardly help, given the way Aziraphale reacts to seeing a particularly tempting pastry or a well-bound old book. There’s no sharing of moods, which is just as well, because Crowley _ doesn’t need to know _ what the angel is thinking or feeling every minute of the day. He certainly doesn’t need the angel knowing what _ he’s _ up to, either.

Their system of mutual awareness works well enough, until it doesn’t. Until Aziraphale is really, truly in danger of discorporation. He’s never yet actually _ been _ discorporated, and Crowley knows for a fact that this is, at least in part, due to his own tendency to abandon whatever he’s doing and run to help him before it can happen. He might not have a built-in sensor of angel endangerment, but he _ does _ have an early warning system of sorts. And they would _ not _be happy if they knew.

_ “Crowley. Excellent work.” _

“Oh, hi, Beelzebub. Is this important? I was actually _watching _that fire.”

_ “Of course it’s important, Crowley. We’re very impressed. It can’t be easy to keep manoeuvring the Principality Aziraphale into these potentially fatal situations.” _

That's not a promising start to the conversation. “No. No, it’s not, and he just keeps wriggling out of them at the last second. Very frustrating. So he, er, he is in danger at the moment?”

_ “Oh, yes. He should be discorporated any moment now. We’re very pleased.” _

“Good. Good. Oh, say - what was your favourite detail of this particular plan?” He’s reaching out with his demonic senses as he speaks. Aziraphale is in France; it’ll take him a few minutes to get there.

_ “Well, you can’t beat the guillotine for a dramatic exit, can you? And so public, in front of all of Paris-” _

“I agree, one of my better ideas- anyway, quick temptation to get to, talk to you soon, yeah? Send my best to Dagon.” He throws a bucket of water over the fire - effectively slamming a door in his supervisor's face - and runs.

Later, when he returns to his rooms after crêpes with Aziraphale - head firmly attached to his shoulders, despite the revolutionaries’ best efforts - he finds a lightly smoking letter tucked under the door.

_ Crowley, _

_ Couldn’t get hold of you to let you know - the Principality survived again. Try harder. _

_ Beelzebub, Lord of the Flies, etc. etc. _

He can almost see the anger scorching the page. He throws it into the ashes in the hearth and goes to bed; that’s quite enough heroism for one decade. He can’t sleep for too long - Hell will, no doubt, be expecting him to do _ something _to make up for the angel’s continued existence - but he’s in no mood to worry about temptations now.

He’s certainly in no mood to think about his _ own _temptation, or why he keeps dropping everything, risking his own existence, just to save that temptation from a little paperwork.


End file.
